I, Susan, woke up this morning feeling lousy. My body achy. I’m struggling to get out of bed to take the dogs for a walk.
Yesterday was so different.
I was coming off a very busy week, returning from a month up at The Haven, leading a program called Living Alive Phase 1 (If you want to read all about that – here’s the link. Suddenly, after an early dinner and catch up with my friend, Paula – I crashed.
I ended my evening feeling nauseous and horrible. I thought I had food poisoning or was finally succumbing to the flu that others around me had earlier while at The Haven. I went to bed convinced I was sick.
However, with the morning comes some perspective. I don’t think I’ve got the flu or food poisoning. I think I’m in transition, or from my Haven perspective, I have dropped into ‘the pit’.
That right! This is a normal part of life. I wrote a blog about it years ago called, When Wow! Meets Whoa!.
I thought I would share some of the important nuggets.
Wow! Moments
We all have experiences and moments that are transformational. Maybe it is a workshop or a remarkable family or friend event. Something that drops in some new or foreign element into your status quo. You are catapulted into chaos, a dis-equilibrium.
Hopefully, if this was a workshop, you also got some tools and resources for working with the chaos, recognizing the opportunity for transformation.
Big emotional events, be negative or positive, often come with this crazy, wild drop into uncertainty and chaos!
Good news: it’s normal!
The problem is that most of us don’t like the sensations or the discomfort of this disequilibrium and try to power through or do something familiar to ease the uncertainty.
I know this, oh, so well.
I get the opportunity to do a great deal of transformational work with people and even though I don’t see myself as the one being transformed, I almost always have an after-shock.
Sometimes I remember to breathe, rest and digest.
Sometimes I have put too many things on my schedule, and I wake up thinking I am ill.
What’s needed, but I often resist, is the willingness to say, STOP.
To take time to rest and settle into myself and notice what comes forward.
Creativity
I find these times offer some of my most creative moments. However, I also visit some of my darkness spots.
It’s not like a great new light comes from being in the sunshine. Often the bright spots only show up in the darkness of night.
So this week, I believe some powerful creative potential is being stirred. As I mentioned, I just came from a month of a being deeply engaged in transformation. I also came home to a week filled with some additional moments of deep work and risk on my part.
CrisMarie and I were working with a speaking coach to help us build our speaking business. I also spoke solo at a local event telling some risky stories.
Now, I get my mind, body and spirit are seeking a chance to integrate. Fortunately, I have a window this weekend before getting totally into planning for Find Your Mojo in Montana, which starts May 9th.
CrisMarie is off engaging in her own transformational weekend in NYC – so I have the time.
Will I drop? Will I wrestle?
Faith isn’t a guarantee of outcome!
My truth is that I don’t know.
I do have faith that I’ll get through it. Faith, which is defined best by my mentor, Ben Wong, the felt assurance of the continuity of life.
I will breathe. I will rest. I will discover and explore this moment.
What about you?
Are you making the most of your transformational moments? Do you find yourself at times knocked to your knees after some incredible “wow!” experience? Are you not sure why you are exhausted or sick? Maybe you just need to breathe, rest and digest.
Susan
CrisMarie Campbell and Susan Clarke
Coaches, Business Consultants, Speakers and Authors of The Beauty of Conflict
CrisMarie and Susan work leaders and teams, couples in business, and professional women.
They help turnaround dysfunctional teams into high performing, cohesive teams who trust each other, deal with differences directly, and have clarity and alignment on their business strategy so they create great results.
Check out their website: www.thriveinc.com. Connect with CrisMarie and Susan on LinkedIn. Watch their TEDx Talk: Conflict – Use It, Don’t Defuse It! Find your copy of The Beauty of Conflict: Harnessing Your Team's Competitive Advantage here.